2S Cultivation of the Dahlia in Private Gardens. 



sandy soil : the roots should then be put in, and the tubers 

 covered with similar materials, being careful that the crown of 

 the root remains uncovered. The lights may then be put on ; 

 but, should great heat arise in the bed, let them be tilted a 

 little at back to allow any rank steam to escape freely. This 

 may be allowed day and night, if found really necessary ; but 

 cautiously protecting the roots, by covering, every night, with 

 matting, sufficiently secured to prevent any danger of their 

 being carried off by high winds; of course, the ventilation 

 of the frame must be proportionate to the degree of heat and 

 steam emitted by the bed. This precaution is particularly 

 necessary when the roots begin to push shoots, for, if not 

 attended to at this time, they will sustain much injury, if not 

 be wholly destroyed. 



The bed may be now occasionally, but moderately, watered, 

 the water being in a tepid state, avoiding, as much as possi- 

 ble, wetting the growing shoots. Admit air regularly in the 

 day, by partly or wholly removing the lights, but ever careful 

 in replacing them with the mat-covering before the evening 

 turns cold, for one frost would annihilate every shoot, and 

 thereby render a nullity all the attentions previously bestowed. 

 As soon as the shoots are about three inches in length, they 

 may be detached by means of a sharp knife, cutting the shoot 

 immediately under the joints next the crown of the root : in 

 doing this, caution is necessary not to injure any minute buds 

 which may be connected with the base of the cutting. Insert 

 these cuttings singly into thumb-pots, filled with rich, mel- 

 low, sandy soil, and plunge the pots up to the rim in a pretty 

 lively heat, where, if kept shaded from the sun and covered 

 at night, they will readily strike root ; and, if the bed be much 

 reduced in strength, apply linings or outer coatings of hot 

 manure to the frame, as observation may suggest, or necessity 

 require. When thoroughly established, they may be gradu- 

 ally removed to a cold frame, placing the pots on a layer of 

 lime siftings, to prevent the access of worms ; from whence 

 they may be removed to the open air as prudence may dic- 

 tate. Should they become pot-bound, that is, the pots filled 

 with matted roots, let them be shifted into pots a size larger. 



